NC teen who spent months in immigration custody to speak

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — A teenager who spent months in federal custody under threat of deportation is scheduled to speak in Durham about his experience behind bars and his plans for the future.

Wildin Acosta plans to hold a news conference Monday evening, the first time he’s spoken publicly since he was released earlier this month from a detention center in rural Georgia. The 19-year-old Acosta was a senior at Riverside High in Durham and on his way to school when federal immigration agents arrested him in January. His deportation was temporarily halted in March.

Acosta has said he fled Honduras in 2014 because a gang member threatened to kill him. He hopes to win asylum.

Also speaking will be other previously detained refugee youth living in North Carolina, along with their families.